Shortening or fat is homogeneously incorporated into cookie and cracker doughs to assist machining of the dough and to enhance taste and mouthfeel of the final, baked product. However, in producing shredded products from a whole berry or grain, the homogeneous incorporation of a shortening or fat into the berry would destroy the integrity and discreetness of the berry and thereby impair its shreddability. The application of oil to the surface of the berries may also impair shreddability by creating slippage problems in the shredding mills. Coating berries with oil may also interfere with the ability of the shredding mills to form the berries into a cohesive dough which can be shaped into continuous strands or net-like sheets.
A glossy appearance, lubricous mouthfeel, and desirable color, flavor, and textural attributes provided by shortening or fat is imparted to shredded biscuits or wafers by spraying the baked products with an oleaginous composition. The oleaginous composition may also serve as a carrier for food additives such as flavorants or seasonings. The oil topping may also promote desirable adhesion of the additives to the baked substrate. Relatively high amounts of oil may be topically applied to shredded wafers without creation of surface puddles or oil seepage from the surface. The shredded or net-like, laminated structure of such products allows penetration of the oil to interior shreds and layers which enhances a slippery, lubricous, non-gritty mouthfeel not only during initial mastication but also during subsequent mastication and swallowing.
Carbohydrate gums and hydrocolloids such as xanthan gum, guar gum, locust bean gum, gum arabic, pectin, and carrageenan have been used as thickeners, stabilizers, or emulsifiers in foods. Hydrocolloids are very effective water binding agents. They may be used alone or in combination with other gums or fat substitutes to replace fat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,347 discloses a process of preparing a dry, instant, wheat or farina-like product in flake form which will readily rehydrate upon the addition of hot water. One step in this process involves mixing farina and an effective amount of guar gum in powder form.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,890,118 discloses a method of forming a quick-cooking cereal product. The process includes adding to farina with agitation about 1/2 to 21/2 percent by weight of a thickening and suspending agent. The suspending agent can be gum tragacanth, gum karaya, gum arabic, purified gum guar, agar or refined algin.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,526,513 and 3,526,514 disclose the use of guar bean gum as a thickening agent in instant grain products.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,606 discloses a ready-to-eat guar gum snack food bar for reducing insulin and permitting smooth blood sugar fluctuations for Type II diabetics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,984 discloses the use of hydrated, polysaccharide hydrocolloids in combination with hydrated insoluble fiber and protein material, in wheat flour-containing doughs and batters for improvement of the functional and/or organoleptic attributes of baked goods produced from such doughs and batters.
The topical application of a hydrocolloid gum, such as guar gum to a baked shredded wafer to replace topically applied fat or shortening can adversely affect the texture, appearance, and microbial stability of the final product. While excess water used as a carrier for the gum may be removed by further heating or drying, these additional steps may decompose or volatilize heat sensitive additives such as vitamins. The additional heating may also increase "checking" or breakage problems in baked goods or adversely affect their flavor, color, appearance or texture. Increasing the concentration of the hydrocolloid gum may result in a viscosity which is too high for proper spraying or too high for penetration to the interior shreds and laminates.
In the present invention, the topically applied fat content of shredded baked goods is substantially reduced without impairing shreddability of whole berries or grains on a continuous, mass production basis. A hydrocolloid gum is incorporated into the product as a fat replacer. However, the discrete, particulate nature and free-flowing non-sticky properties of cooked whole grains needed for the formation of shreds in a shredding mill is not destroyed. The reduced fat, low fat, or no fat baked goods of the present invention exhibit a smooth, lubricous, or slippery mouthfeel during initial mastication as well as subsequent mastication and swallowing.